The Nicaragua Scholarship Program would not be where it is today without Nola Nackerud (pictured above with two neighbors). Here is her remarkable story.
I am Nola, and I have been helping with the Asla Foundation scholarships in Nicaragua. It is amazing how your support changes the lives of these young people here.
I came to Nicaragua in 2001 as a Peace Corps volunteer. I had been married for 30 years and was devastated by my pending divorce, so I decided instead of staying and feeling sad I would go and do something to help others. Actually I was really helping myself at the same time.
Joining the Peace Corps at age 50 was definitely a challenge. I was an “environment volunteer” and was sent to the northern part of Nicaragua, to a pueblo called Condega (which means Land of the Potters). I worked in rural schools and did projects related to trash removal, composting with worms, climate change, and other environmental issues. I also volunteered for medical teams or other groups who needed a translator. In 2007, at the end of my Peace Corps assignments, a group from Bend, Oregon asked if I would consider staying in Condega and helping them with their projects. I said I would try it for a year and see if I could survive here on what little they could pay me. I flew back to the U.S. to go through the few belongings I had left in the attic of my nephew’s home and later were moved to a storage unit because he was getting married. (He thought my belongings would be there for 2 years, not 6!) I sold my few things and used the money to fly back to Nicaragua and begin another chapter of my life.
It is now 2019 and I am still here...almost 18 years now. I am getting by and live very simply as the coordinator of the Asla Foundation scholarship program as well as programs of the Condega/Bend Sister City Foundation. I’m also involved in library improvements, building projects in rural schools, school supplies distribution, and yes, I am a volunteer firefighter here! I also work with deaf children in their homes and schools and through that I have learned Nicaragua Sign Language. This has become my passion.
Why do I stay? Condega has become my home. Not many people would want to live under these conditions, but I thrive on the lovely people here, especially the children! I like the feeling of doing something each day that might make a difference in a life, be it something as simple as a smile or a hug, or helping a youth with homework or whatever else comes up. And so many things do come up!!
I do miss hot water, a washing machine, air conditioning, etc., but to be honest, I am so used to not having them that it is not a hardship. It is just my way of life now. For 13 years I did not have running water in my house. I had an outhouse out back and my shower was outside also. I now have running water in my house, and it is luxurious to have water come out of the tap!
I have so much admiration and gratitude for Jess Neff for starting the Asla Foundation; Jess was also a Peace Corps volunteer in a rural community nearby when I came here. The scholarships we provide change lives for the better and carry much love from the US to Nicaragua and from Nicaragua to the US.